We’ve been talking lately about the bridges, but they weren’t always there. A city by the river, in the days before bridges, very much relied on ferries for transportation. From the earliest days, Greenbush was an important adjunct to what became Albany, and the vast farmlands beyond Greenbush relied on ferries to access the important trading town. Ferry service between Albany and Greenbush was regulated under the laws of Albany, as published in 1800, which ordained that “every person who shall obtain a lease of the said ferry and be in the actual enjoyment thereof, shall be deemed the ferry-man.” Brilliant. The ferry-man was required to provide a bond to the city worth double the rent to be paid on the ferry, ferry house, and lot.
And be it further Ordained, That from and after the passing of this Law, the rates of ferriage across the Hudson’s river, between the limits of the city of Albany and Green-Bush, shall be as follows : that is to say,
1. For every person from the first day of November till the first day of May, two pence; and the remainder of the year one penny : Provided, that a sucking child and every other article not herein after rated, which a person holds and supports under his or her arms, shall be exempted from the payment of ferriage.
2. For every man and horse, or ox or cow, six pence.
3. For every hog, calf, sheep or lamb, one penny.
4. For every wagon and two horses or oxen, together with its loading, if the same remains in the wagon, and does not exceed, if of grain twenty bushels, and if of boards the number of forty, and if of plank the number of twenty-five, one shilling; and for every bushel more one penny, and for every board more a half penny, and for every plank more one penny.
5. For every team, cart or wagon with four horses or oxen, with or without its loading, two shillings; and for every additional ox or horse, six pence.
6. For every coach, coachee, chariot or phaeton, two shillings.
7. For every chair, chaise or sulkey and horse, one shilling.
8. For every chest or trunk, four pence.
9. For every full barrel, three pence.
10. For every pail of butter, one penny.
11. For every firkin or tub of butter, two pence.
12. For every bushel of grain, one penny.
13. For every hundred weight of unwrought metal, three pence; and in that proportion for a greater or less quantity.
14. For every hundred weight of beaver or other skins, four pence; and in like proportion for a greater or less quantity.
15. For every saddle if not on a horse, one penny.
16. For every dozen pair of boots or shoes, one penny; and in like proportion for a greater or less quantity.
17. For the stage carriage playing between the city of Albany and the city of New-York, and all other public stages, their drivers, horses, passengers and baggage, two shillings and six pence.
For all ferriage from one hour after sunset until day break, except for the New York stage carriage, rates were allowed to be doubled. The stage was to be given preference to “every other person, carriages or articles whatever, immediately upon their arrival at the said ferry, whether by night or by day; and that if the ferry-man shall neglect or refuse to convey the same across the said ferry without delay, he shall forfeit the sum of twenty shillings for every such neglect or refusal.”
The ferry-man was required to keep at least two boats and scows in good order and repair, to be constantly employed and worked, “wind and weather permitting, by able bodied men, at least, in the boats and scows from day-break to one hour after sun-set, in such manner as that one of the said two boats and scows, so employed as aforesaid, may as nearly as may be, constantly depart rom the two opposite shores of the river at the same time.” There was a five dollar fine for failing to run the boats and scows thusly; there was also a five dollar fine if he should be found to overcharge. No other boats or canoes were permitted to convey for hire or reward any person, carriage, horse, or other article across the river anywhere between the north and south boundaries of Albany. There was also a posting requirement:
And be it further Ordained, That the ferryman shall paste up on a board in some place on the east side of the road, and to the eastward of and opposite the ferry-house, a printed copy of this law, and shall from time to time, during the term for which he shall hold the said ferry, and during the times hereby limited for ferrying as aforesaid, keep the said copy fixed up as aforesaid.